Apparatus for applying pressure to shoe bottoms



Sept. 23, 1952 H. GULBRANDSEN 2,611,143

APPARATUS FOR APPLYING PRESSURE TO SHOE BOTTOMS Filed Oct. 8, 1948 2 SIlEETS-Sl-{EET'I E l u lh uenar l J6 He ge @alb/wn o'en APPARATUS FOR APPLYING PRESSURE To SHOE B'orToMs Filed Oct. 8, 1948 Sept. 23, 1952 H. GULBRANDSEN 2 SHEETS--SHEET 2 'wen for Helge mmm/ideen Patented Sept. 23,y 1952 This 1'invention relates to 'apparatus for apply 'ing pressure to `shoebottoms and ilhistrated 'herein yas embodied in a pad box Aadapted 'particularly "for use in 'attaching 'soles to shoe `bot- 'toms by cement although `it will b 'e understood that `in its vv'broadest 'aspects `the invention is not thus limited in vits use.A l f Y im objectof 'the invention is to provide fan im'- proved padl of simplified 'construction by which 'the ypressure is concentrated along :the marginal portion ofV the -sh'oejbottom- I To this end and in accordance wit-ha 'feat-ure of the invention the pressure-'applying 'pad `is .formed 'o'fsoft resilient material ysuchas rubber 'having a lshape similar in plan 'to 'that of 'a 4shoe bo'tt'om 'from the heel breast line forwardly, the shoe-facing surface'o'fA the pad having -a "marginpressing portion and la central recess which'fi's ldeiined by abrupt Vslfn'mlders 'atl theinner edge this recess no substantial pressuref'jis applied hard Vrubber; LBy ithusconning 'the-softpadfr member, excessivewrap'fo'f the margin of the-sole :is prevented lbecause the rubber can ow 4out- "wardly, rdue to the yielding nature of the harder rubber block.: 'The sof/tlrrubber pad vmember is removable ,trom the rubber block to' 'ffacilitate substitution Vfofl one -lpad memberl ffor I'ar-iotli'er if fdesired.- `An"additional advantage' 'o'ff mounting the pad member in a rubber-bloekyis'that.jadijustments of vthe :shapefoffthelpad .member to facc'ommodate'eshoes of :different #heel -heghfts' *is Aif'alciliiate'd. l f p The heel portioniof the rubber blockf'under- Ilies 4the 'heel` portion of `the shoe 'to presenta substantially fiiat surface-thereto A'and 'is prefer- :ably :of harderriubber than'the remainder ci `'the .block ito'linsure the "formation ycia substantially "fiat heel sea-t on .the shoe bei-ngvoperated upon.

'The-above 'and :other features o'f the Vinven- A:tionincluding various details of construction fand vnovel combinations of parts :will now be de- Fig.` -B vis an exploded viewof the pad and assojcifated vparts which "are carried Aby the v'looxf The pad of therpresent invention is vadapted to be carried by a pad box of "the type illustrated and described in Letters Patentqo'f 'theUnitcd States No. 2;041gl85, granted July elif/11,935l `yun an :application fled inthe name of M. H. Ballard et alsl although fit Willb'e understood'that the invention lis not limited "to this particular type of y pad box. pad box l'0 "having fangularly adliustablefbottom walls l-2, I4 is provided. Carried 'the bottom" walls are metal blocks 16,113 which .filli-the space `occupied by-the water lbag off-'the Ballard (et ral. pa'd ibox. As shown vin Fig. i2 the 'upper surface of the :block `Hi which Vunderlies the .forepart' of @a rshoe being operatedup'on .is inclined 'at 20; in accordance with the lateral inclination of the shoe :bottom so that whenxa :shoe :is pressed :on the-pad supportedby'fthe 'block |"6 there will be no tendencylfor the shoe torock about `an*A axis extending lengthwiseof .'-t-he:shoe Therearrend of the block 4lli ,is-roundved 'as shown .in Fig. 1 Yand abuts :a 'iiat inclined :frontfacesof the block ijthe arrangement being suchothat the 4platesflfZ, :M may :be readily 'adjusted-with vrespect to each other .in vaccordance :with the .particular heel height of the shoe-to be voperated upon by mechanism' of 'thetype Yillustrated in the .-:Ballard et al. patent. g r Carried A.by the metal blocksfl, I3 is afbloc 22 of resilient material having transversely -extendingfgrooves 24 extending partially through v.the block from the undersurface, thesegrooves Verialllirrg the block to conform yto the supporting surface provided by the metal blocks I6, ."I8`irrespective 'of .their relative'positionsfas detervmined by fthe positioning of the plates I2., M QThe block 22 is preferably formed of *rubber Sand is provided "in 'its"upper face :with a' recess 26, kvthe 'recess being shaped Vsomewhat like -the 4outrline `of 'a shoe'bottom but being larger vthan `the -larges'tshoeto boperated upon.

Reinovably carried by the block 22 Vin "therecess 26 is faresilient pad '28 vwhich has 'a shape s'imil'arto that Vofthe vrecess '26 but is preferably tions of the pad at the forepart slope inwardly. toward said recess so that the margin of the .solei during the pressing operation is conformed properly to the bottom of the shoe. By reason of the recess in the central portion of the pad the pressure in the central portion of the forepart is minimized and the pressure is substan.

tially all concentrated along the margin where it is needed in a sole-attaching operation.`

The shank portion of the pad 28 is inclined upwardly lengthwise of the `pad `as illustrated in Fig. 3 so as to conform generally with the shank portion of a shoe bottom. t may be desirable to make the shank portion. of the pad of harder rubber'than that of the forepart because .of the degree of pressure required in shaping the shank portion of the outsole in the soleattaching operation or for some types of work, where a very flat forepart isdesired, the forepart por.- tion of the pad may be of harder rubber than the shank. The recess 30 extends throughout the shank portion of the pad sothat the pressure is likewise concentrated along the margins of the outsole at the shank.

Preferably, although not necessarily, the block 22 in which the pad 28 is supported is of harder rubber Athan that of the pad, the primary func- -tion of the block being to support the pad on `the bottom and sides thereof and providing the requiredV flexibility topermit adjustment of the.

pad for different heel heights of shoes :to b'e operated upon.` The resiliencyof the block 22 further permits, however, some'lateral iiowof the rubber 'of the pad 28 during the pressureapplying operation thereby facilitating confor-.-

mation of the upper surface of the pad Yto that of -the shoe bottom without excessively bending the-,edge portions of the outsole upwardly.`

'It will be noted that the recess in the block 22', and consequently the rear end of the-pad 28,- terminate forwardly of the rear end of a shoe tobe operated upon. The heel end of the block 22 has a flat pressure-applying surface I36 .as shown in Figs. l and 3 so as to facilitate the formation of a fiat heel seat on the shoe bottom. The heel portion of the blockmay be made of harder rubber than the remainder of the block so that the heel end of the shoe will not distort it appreciably during the pressure-applying operation, thus further insuring the formation of a ilat heel seat.

A pad cover 38 is located on top of the pad 28. This cover is illustrated as being formedof a lowerlayer` of rubbe'i` 40 united with an upper layer of leather 42. The rubber of the cover is preferably, although not necessarily, harder than that of the pad 28 and of the block l22. It is to be understood that the cover may if desired be formed of other materials or combinations of materials. The cover is held in position by a mask plate 44 which is received in grooves 4B (Fig. 2) of legs 48 of a U-shaped gage plate 50 such as illustrated in the Ballard et al. patent.

Pins 52 pass through holes 54 in the cover 38 to,

maintain the cover and mask plate in assembled relation.

So that the pad may be employed with shoes having a wide range of heel heights, a block 5B of rubber or other suitable material may be interposed between the heel end of the block 22 and the metal block I8 to raisetheheel end of the pad beyond that which is possible'by adjustment of the plates I2, I4, when operating upon shoes of extreme heel heights. When operating upon shoes of vlower heel heights the block 56 1 will not be employed.

In the use of the apparatus the plates I2, I4

employedin the case of a shoe of extreme heel height. A shoe S is then placed on the pad cover `38 in a position in which it is generally central of the pad 34,' after which pressure is applied through a toe abutmentY 60 and a heel abutment (not shown) to force the shoe and cover 38v downwardly into the pad as shown in Fig. 2. By reason of the yieldable construction of the pad 28, the contour of its marginal'portion,- and the central recess 30 de n'edby vthe abrupt shoulders at the inner edge of the marginal.portion,.the pressure i's concentrated along the-'marginrof the shoe bottom wherey it ismost neededfin the sole-attaching operation and the margin of the outsole is. bent upwardly around .the forepart .and shank thusfimpartin'g a `good appearance to the shoe. The'recess 30 is sufficiently deep so that even undermaximum pres- `sure there isa space between the cover 38A and .the bottom of the recess so that relatively little pressure is applied throughout the central portion of the forepart and shank. It will be noted that the pad28 extendsfsomewhat above the -sur- -face 36 of the block 2'2so'that no pressure isv ap- Having Ithus described my invention.` what'I claimasnew and desire vvto secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

.1. A pad for applying pressure t'o shoe bottoms comprisinga rubber block having a recess in its shoe facing surface, and a rubber pad member -removably carried in and substantially filling said recess, said pad member being'` shaped to apply pressure only to themarginalportions or a shoe .supported thereon. v

'Y 2.. A pad for applying pressureito shoebottoms comprising a hardrubber block having in its shoe facing surface a recess shaped to conformzto the bottom of a shoe, and a. soft rubber pad member .substantially lling said recess and-having a margin-pressing portion anda centralrecess de- ;ned by-abrupt shouldersat-the inner edge of said margin-pressing portion, said central recess being of substantial size but smaller thanfthe smallest shoe to be operated upon whereby the pressure on the shoe bottom is concentrated along its marginal area. f

3. Apparatus for applying pressure to shoe bottoms comprising a box, a rubber block in said box having in its upper face a sole shaped recess larger than the shank and ioreparts of the largest sole to be operated upon, and a rubber pad member substantially nlling said recess and providing a pressure-applying surface effective only along the marginal portions of the shoe bottom.

4. Apparatus for applying pressure to shoe bottoms comprising a box, a rubber block in said box having in its upper face a sole shaped recess larger than the shank and foreparts of the largest sole to be operated upon, and a rubber pad member in said recess, the shoe-facing surface of said pad member having a margin-pressing portion and a central recess defined by abrupt shoulders at the inner edge of said margin-pressing portion, said central recess being of substantial size so that the pressure is concentrated along the marginal portions of the shoe bottom, the marginal portions of said pad member at the forepart sloping inwardly toward said recess, said pad member being relatively soft in comparison with the block.

5. Apparatus for applying pressure to shoe bottoms comprising a box, a rubber block in said box having in its upper face a sole shaped recess larger than the shank and foreparts of the largest sole to be operated upon, and a rubber pad member in said recess, the shoe-facing surface of said pad member having a margin-pressing portion and a central recess defined by abrupt shoulders at the inneredge of said margin-pressing portion, the marginal portions of said pad member at the forepart sloping inwardly toward said central recess, said pad member being relatively soft in comparison with the block, the rear portion of said block being arranged to underlie the heel end of the shoe and being of harder rubber than the rest of the block.

6. Apparatus for applying pressure to shoe bottoms comprising a pad box having angularly adjustable bottom parts, a solid rubber block contained in the box, said block having transversely extending slits in its lower portion to enable it to conform to the positions of said bottorn parts and having a recess in its upper face, and a rubber block substantially filling said recess and being shaped to concentrate the pressure along the marginal portions of a shoe bottom.

7. Apparatus for applying pressure to shoe bottoms comprising a pad box having angularly adjustable bottom parts, a solid rubber block conportion and a central recess dened by abruptr shoulders, the recess in said pad member being of substantial size but smaller than the smallest shoe to be operated upon whereby the pressure on the shoe bottom is concentrated along its marginal area.

8. Apparatus for applying pressure to shoe bottoms comprising a pad box having angularlyv adjustable bottom parts, a solid rubber block contained in the box and having transversely extending slits in its lower portion to enable it to conform to the positions of said bottom parts and having -a sole shaped recess in its upper face, a relatively soft rubber pad member substantially filling said recess, the shoe-facing surface of said pad member having a margin-pressing portion and a central recess dened by abrupt shoulders, the recess in said pad member being of substantial size but smaller than the smallest shoe to be operated upon whereby the pressure on the` shoe bottom is concentrated along its marginal area, and a hard rubber cover for said pad member and box, said cover having a shoeengaging layer of leather.

HELGE GULBRANDSEN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the iile of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 194,866 Gifford et al. Sept. 4, 1877 579,206 Winkley Mar. 23, 1897 942,133 Davenport Dec. 7, 1909 1,272,019 Dihlrnann July 9, 1918 1,710,162 Guido Apr. 23, 1929 2,017,982 Merritt Oct. 22, 1935 2,205,400 Finn June 25, 1940 2,268,874 Huntoon Jan. 6, 1942 2,497,195 Woodman et al. Feb. 14, 1950 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 171 070 Great Britain Nov. 10, 1921 

